1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to convertible sofa bed constructions, and more particularly, to a convertible sofa bed mechanism in which a headboard is provided.
Convertible sofa beds are a popular addition to most homes because they provide additional sleeping accommodations without the requirement of an additional bedroom. One problem with many sofa beds is that the mechanism does not provide for a headboard such as most free standing beds have. As a result, during sleep, a pillow can move into the space between the head end of the frame and the sofa back cushions, making the sofa bed uncomfortable to use. In addition, since most sofa bed mechanism headboard frames are formed of metal and since they have a metal end frame at the head of the bed, the absence of a headboard will often cause the person sleeping in the bed to hit his head against the metal end frame.
While some sofa bed mechanisms in the past have provided for headboards, these mechanisms have all been fairly complex and difficult to provide in the confined space of a sofa with the attendant complex folding bed mechanism.
A series of such folding bed mechanisms with headboard were developed by Peter P. Bebry and disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,624,888; 2,734,201; and 2,783,478. In each of these sofa beds, an extremely complex mechanism was provided having multiple parts whose complexity make them fairly expensive and require additional space and bulk in the sofa. A somewhat similar folding bed mechanism with the headboard is shown in the Lenart patent, No. 2,829,381. In this system, the headboard does not fold and thus requires additional space in the sofa. A similar headboard with a different folding mechanism is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,960,698 to Bernard Castro.
Still other headboard arrangements, wherein the headboard lies flat beneath the seating surface of the sofa are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,654,642 to Barabas and 1,649,719 to Meisner. And, a mechanism with a fixed headboard is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,934,770 to Willis et al.
An object of the present invention is to provide a simple headboard arrangement in a presently available commercial sofa bed mechanism which requires no modification of the existing mechanism to accommodate the headboard.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a headboard in a folding sofa bed mechanism which is extremely simple in operation and adaptable to existing mechanisms.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a headboard in a folding sofa bed mechanism with a minimum of expense.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a headboard arrangement in a sofa bed mechanism wherein the headboard is compact and requires substantially no additional space to be accommodated within the sofa frame.